You are not going to go wrong with any of those three. I have used all of these at one time or another and while my personal experience was that there was a slight difference, I will also be the first to acknowledge that the difference was at best not that great and may have more to do with personal preference. On a scale of 1:10 with an FT at 10 and your average bargain focusser at 1, I would rate the Moonlight at 9 and the JMI at 7. But then again, apart from the FT, I've only had an experience with one example each of the other two focussers.

What I would say is that appraising the FT is a bit like appraising an Astro-physics scope. It may not be the only best scope around, but one thing you can be pretty sure of is that while there might be other scopes that come close to or in fact match the performance - there won't be anything substantially better. I ended up with FT's on almost all my scopes largely for that reason.

At the same time, I had a WO 10:1 focusser that was superb and every bit a match for an FT, although the first one I got had issues. And I upgraded my NP-127 with TV's stock 6:1 focusser rather than an FT, but have never felt an urge to replace it with an FT.

In any event, after it arrives, do share your experiences with all of us - what makes these forums so useful is all the opinions that get aired here!!

I finally made my focuser purchase. I was waiting for Feathertouch to figure out which components I would need to make their focuser work with my scope. They came up with a system that would give me 2.5" of focus travel and get my eyepieces at the correct height to focus them. Unfortunately by the time we figured out what I would need the price was just too high.:money:

The Moonlite CR 2" was very tempting and I'm sure it's probably a great focuser but the fact that the body is open on the backside just bothers me. (I know, I need to seek help)

I went with a JMI EV-1n with the EV-75 upgrade
I think I will be happy with it.

Congratulation on your choice. I am sure that you will be pleased. I too faced this dilemma when I was choosing a focuser for my own scope. When I was designing my scope I was able to take advantage of the low profile of the FT design. I was able to place the focus closer to the tube to gain improved off axis brightness. This option does not exist when replacing an existing focuser.

At the time of my order there were three choices of focuser travel. .8â€, 1.5â€ and something longer. Clearly if you need three inches and purchase the 1.5â€ travel unit they will have to add spacers to make up the difference. This will result in added cost. In my case I found the Moonlite unit base price was less but when I added the same features such as a break, compression ring and dual speeds I found the cost difference was less than 2%.

When I got my FT I was pleased to learn that it will rotate relative to its base. This was helpful to me in that I have it at a 30 degree angle to the axis to the tube. Also it disconnects from the base and with the nominal cost of a second base I can use the same focuser on my second scope.

Good luck with your upgrade I am sure you will be please by the performance of the unit you choose.

I'm considering replacing the stock focuser on my LXD55 SN10 with a Moonlite CR2. How have you got on with it? Did it work straight out of the box, or did you have to twiddle first?
Did the SN10 fixing kit allow for easy installation and was it easy to centre the focuser in the center of the OTA?

The JMI EV1 or EV2CM are very interresting for classical SCT. Because they are short.

Classical SCT are optimized for a short backfocus. Increasing the travel would increase the spherical error which is a concern in platnetary viewing/imaging.

For visuel use, the JMI-EV2CM together with a 1,25" diagonnal is a perfect match on classical SCT. This will give the best performance. The motor is very helpfull for visual use at high magnification.

For planetary imaging, the JMI is quite sturdy, (much more than the baader for instance) good enough, TheFT is at least as good as the JMI, may be a little bit stiffer.

If you do RGB planetary imaging, you may prefer the starizona stepper motor or the optec boss servo that can equip the FT. Both can be precisely programmed for each filter. (the longitudinal chromatism of the SCT usually requires a different focus for the different filters. It can be automated with the FT)